Over 700 people contacted gardaí over abuse in schools run by religious orders in 2024

Eva Osborne

Over 700 people have contacted gardaí in relation to physical and sexual abuse in day and boarding schools run by religious orders this year.

This is according to figures released on Friday by the Garda National Protective Services Bureau.

Over 61,000 domestic abuse-related contacts have been received by gardaí to date this year - a nine per cent increase over the same period in 2023.

There has also been an increase in prosecutions under new domestic abuse related legislation.

An Garda Síochána said it continues to treat all instances of gender-based violence as a priority and continues to introduce and implement a number of measures to support victims of domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence.

This includes 51 prosecutions for the new offence of non-fatal strangulation commencing since the offence was introduced on November 1st, 2023.

35 of these were related to domestic abuse.

There were 11 prosecutions for the new offence of stalking have commenced since the offence was introduced on November 1st, 2023, six of which were related to domestic abuse.

There have been 41 prosecutions for coercive control in 2023 and 2024.

Detective chief superintendent at the Garda National Protective Services Bureau, Colm Noonan, said: " In advance of the Christmas break, we would like to reach out to people across the country to assure them of action we will be taking during the festive period and beyond into 2025.

"Every single hour of every single day, members of An Garda Síochána respond at homes where we provide help, support and reassurance to victims; women, men and children who are living through domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.

"I want to thank these women, men and children for their bravery and courage in calling us and speaking to us. Even where you feel you cannot go ahead with a complaint right now, we can still help you and we will make sure you get the support and assistance you need."

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Women’s Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email helpline@womensaid.ie) or Men’s Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email hello@mensaid.ie) for support and information.

Safe Ireland also offers a number of local services and helplines at safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.